Mary Mosiman
Just over 170,000 Iowans voted in Tuesday’s Primary. That’s a fraction of eligible Iowa voters according to Mary Mosiman, the Deputy Iowa Secretary of State for Elections.
“Of all of Iowa’s active voters, we had a statewide average turn-out of 9.1 percent and again that’s just of our active voters,” Mosiman says. “If you take into account all voters, which includes the inactive ones, it’s about an 8 percent turn-out statewide.”
There were no statewide races on Tuesday’s Primary ballot. In the 2008 Primary Election the only statewide race was for the Republican Party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate. Just under 10 percent of active Iowa voters turned out in 2008.
“So this year is comparable, though it’s down ever so slightly,” Mosiman says.
In some areas of the state there were no primary contests at all, with just one name listed for an office, unopposed. Mosiman salutes the voters who did go to the polls yesterday.
“Thank the voters that did go out there and, of course, thank all the people that worked at the polls on Election Day because I know it was a long day with minimal activity in a lot of locations around the state,” Mosiman says.
About 5000 volunteers worked a 16-hour day at precinct sites around the state on Tuesday, according to Mosiman.